Newbee Quilter

Makayla asked for a new room makeover for her birthday this year. She wanted to repaint her room brown and blue and make a quilt to match it. I presented her with coupons as gifts the morning of her birthday and dragged my feet in honoring them for a couple of months.

Makayla's constant reminders that she had to start and finish her quilt by 'Young Women in Excellence Night' which was in November got me off the couch (like I ever have time to sit on the couch). We finally went fabric shopping to three different stores and found the Quilting Cottage. Bless their heart! The ladies found out that this was Makayla's first quilt and whisked her away for an hour to pile bolts of matching fabrics on the table to begin 'the selection'. She was in quilter's heaven. I browsed amazing quilts on the walls half tempted to start my own when reality set in... too much time, energy, money and I would actually have to sit down. Maybe later.

Piecing it together.

Fortunately for Makayla, she has fabulous Young Women leaders who all love to quilt. Leader #1 helped Makayla cut her 20 fabric fat quarters (not a body part) to begin her 'Turning 20' quilt.

Lesson learned....

When you sew too fast, you unpick forever!

Makayla and I spent General Conference sewing the quilt together - it was a lot of fun and I got to sit down here and there.

Ready to be machine quilted...

Makayla was responsible to earn money for her quilt to be quilted by another amazing YW Leader #2. Leader #2 called Makayla up and proposed a trade for quilting. Word must have gotten out that I was being stingy and making Makayla earn that large portion of the price tag. The trade was to watch Leader #2's funny farm for a week - fair deal. All that was left was the price of the batting and thread which Makayla earned in a weekend of babysitting some neighbor kids.

The machine quilting turned out beautiful!

(click on picture for closer look)

Leader #3 (the quilters of all quilters) taught Makayla how to sew the binding fabric onto her quilt to begin the lengthy binding process which resulted in pricked fingers and several band aids.

Quilt completed an hour prior to Young Women in Excellence Night - whew!

Our lives are like quilts - bits and pieces, joy and sorrow, stitched with love.

~Author Unknown